Fled and set fire to the house in Connecticut • “The worst treatment of a man I have seen”
A 32-year-old man in Connecticut states that he has been kept isolated from the outside world for almost 20 years by his stepmother.
To escape captivity, he finally set fire to the house that has been his prison for almost two decades.
“During my 33 years as a police officer, this is the worst treatment of a man I have seen,” says Fred Spagnolo, head of Waterbury Police, according to CNN.
The man has stated in interrogation that he as a child was often hungry and sneaked out at night in search of food. In the fourth grade he was so desperate that he started stealing and picking food from the garbage.
When he was caught by the stepmother Kimberly Sullivan, 56, with the empty food packs, she began to lock him in as a penalty. A penalty that over time became more and more permanent, reports CNN.
In the end, the boy was taken out of school and was only allowed to leave his room when he would help with chores at home in the city of Waterbury in the state of Connecticut in the United States. The last time he left the house was when he, as a 14-year-old, went with his dad to get rid of garden waste.
Since then he has been locked up.
Two sandwiches a day
The 32-year-old states that he lived on two sandwiches and one smaller amount of water a day and that he was allowed to leave the space of six square meters where he was held prisoner between 15 minutes and a couple of hours a day.
When the man was found last month then he weighed 30 kilos and was described as excellent and with rotten teeth.
– During my 33 years as a police officer, this is the worst treatment of a man I have ever seen. It’s really hard to talk about, still, says police chief Fred Spagnolo.
Kimberly Sullivan was arrested on Wednesday and is now charged with a number of crimes, including abuse and human trafficking.
Denies to crime
The charges against Sullivan are “absolutely not true,” reports the 56-year-old’s lawyer, CNN reports.
– He was not locked up in a room. She did not hold him back in any way. She gave food. She provided shelter. She is shocked by these accusations, says lawyer Ioannis Kaloidis.
As a boy, it today got the 32-year-old man never having friends, he has stated for police. He only had permission to have fun at Halloween.
His two half -sisters had friends but they were not allowed to come to the house.
– I have been kept as a secret all my life, the man has told the police.